


Of Dumpsters, Winter, and Love

by tracy7307



Series: Depth of Winter, Invincible Summer [5]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 10:56:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13234221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tracy7307/pseuds/tracy7307
Summary: James is in a dumpster. What else is new?





	Of Dumpsters, Winter, and Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AngeliqueH](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngeliqueH/gifts).



> An intensely belated birthday gift for Sylvie!

Matt inhaled deeply the scents wafting from his tulip-shaped whisky glass: soft, peppery alcohol; light caramel malt; and a satisfying, earthy, peaty aroma. Maybe it was because of his deep Irish roots, this love of a good glass of whisky. Maybe it was a habit he’d picked up from Battlin’ Jack – the numbing pleasure of it after a fight. 

Maybe it was just because he needed something to ground himself after letting the devil out. 

It certainly helped him dull the aches and pains that he’d earned from attempting to fight his way through the ten men operating a local human trafficking ring. At the end of it, three had gotten away, but Matt stood with a heaving chest and aching body over seven unconscious men. He sipped from his glass and let his head fall to the back of the couch, listening to the billboard outside flick with an electric buzz and the streets vibrate with chatter below.

He lifted his head to take another drink, savoring the rush of flavor and alcohol’s burn, when his phone began chirping, _James. James. James._

Matt tapped the screen. “How’d it go?” The plan was that while Matt was taking down the ring’s street-level crew, James would deal with the three in charge of the operation. 

“Left ‘em tied up for Brent. But I’m all fucked up,” James said through clenched teeth. “Can you come help me? I’m in a dumpster.” 

Matt was already on his feet and bounding for the roof. “Where?” 

“Alley behind Irish Arts Center. Don’t even say it, because I already fully realize the irony of this situation.” 

A smile formed on Matt’s lips. “Be right there.”

The first chill of winter’s air bit Matt’s cheeks as he pulled up his coat’s hood. After hurdling rooftops and bounding across fire escapes, Matt stopped at the lip of the Art Center’s rooftop. The first smell to hit him was of rotten garbage from the dumpster, then the faint scent of copper - of blood – that grew stronger every three seconds with shallow breathing. The groaning creaks of several fractured ribs followed these short breaths, like several aged planks of floorboard being stepped on at once, along with the very faint sound of a pestle grinding against a mortar. Matt bounded down the fire escapes.

“Sounds like it hurts,” he said as his feet hit the concrete. 

“It sure doesn’t tickle,” James said, trying to sit up. “Ahhhh, shit.” 

Matt secured James’s shoulders. “Hold still.” 

James placed a hand on the edge of the dumpster and attempted to lift himself up. “I got this babe, don’t-” He inhaled sharply through his teeth and sat back down. “Okay. Maybe not.”

“Told you,” Matt said as he helped stabilize James’s upper body while James lifted his legs over the edge of the dumpster one at a time. “Easy now.” 

“What are you hearing?” James asked as eased himself down to the concrete. 

Matt focused on the sounds coming from James’s chest. “Sounds like two fractures.” James flung his arm over Matt’s shoulders, and Matt helped him along as he stepped gingerly down the alley. “Want me to take you over to Claire and have her X-Ray it?”

“Nah. There’s nothing to be done for it, anyway.” 

Curiosity niggled at Matt and he paused, his hand wrapped around James’s, which rested on his shoulder. “How many times would you say you’ve had fractured a rib?” 

“Hm. Maybe, I don’t know – three? Once when I was helping to defend Steve’s bony ass behind the Ziegfield Theater. That guy was about twice my size. Another time when we were in Germany, and Steve’s motorcycle ended up sliding on top of me after he got knocked off. And now, this.” James laid a hand on top of his jacket. 

“The perils of heroism.” Matt pulled his Stark phone from his pocket and gave the verbal command to send a car to pick them up. 

“Hey!” James pulled away and straightened his posture, although he grimaced as he did so – Matt could hear the tightening of the facial muscles. “It’s only five blocks. I can walk it.” 

“Of course you can. But, my love,” Matt leaned in and planted a light kiss on James’s check, “I think you should let me take care of you.” 

James sighed resignedly. “Fine,” he said, the corner of his mouth quirked up in a little grin. 

A car pulled up and halted in front of them, and F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s voice issued forth from Matt’s phone, “Your ride has arrived.” 

Matt pulled open the door and assisted James as he sat down. “Plus,” Matt added, “I’m too adorable for you to say no.” 

That earned Matt a playful shove of the shoulder. “Don’t push your luck, pal.” 

With that open invitation, Matt decided, naturally, to push his luck. He leaned down in the open car door for a lingering kiss. 

After a moment, James pulled back, and Matt heard the sound for which he’d been listening: James’s pupils dilated with desire. “Yeah,” James said a bit breathily. “I can’t hide it from you. You’re too adorable for me to say no.”

~*~

Matt loaded Miles Davis’s _Kind of Blue_ album onto the player and dropped the needle, then went to the kitchen to fix some eggs. He’d already given James some heavier pain medication before helping him with the painful task of undressing and showering. Now James reclined slowly back onto the bed with a soft, “ah, shit” before Matt pulled up the covers.

Matt placed an ice pack wrapped in a towel over James’s ribs. “Here. You should eat something before you fall asleep.” 

“Mmm.” James took a bite of the plate of scrambled eggs that Matt handed him. “What the hell would I do without you?” 

“Dunno. Lie in dumpsters around New York unaided, I suppose.” 

James snorted and took another bite. “I mean it,” he said. “I have no idea what I’d do. You don’t know what you mean to me.” 

Matt smiled and shoved the plate back at James. “You’re high as a kite. Keep eating.”

“Fine, fine,” James said as he finished the rest of the plate. “I want you to listen to me.” James’s heartbeat slowed and his eyelids drooped. Matt knew it wouldn’t be long before James fell into a deep, medicated sleep. “You listening?” 

“Yeah,” Matt said, putting the plate on the counter and taking James’s hand. “I hear you.” 

“I’d be lost in this world without you. I count my blessings every day that it was you who found me in that alley surrounded by Zemo’s men. I love you, Matthew Michael Murdock.” James said as his eyes slid shut. “I love you.” 

Matt listened as James’s breathing fell into the long, deep breaths that indicated sleep. He swiped the hair from James’s forehead and leaned down to kiss him there. “Don’t know what I’d do without you either, James. I love you too.”


End file.
